WEEK 2: 6 week weight loss plan: 'Week two is the week that broke me'

Ciara McDonnell is on week two of their six-week weight loss plan – and it hasn’t been easy.

After two weeks of hardcore workouts and a low carb, high protein diet, I am already noticing a difference in my body.

I am standing up taller – my posture has definitely improved – and my stomach feels more flat.

Eddie confirms my feelings by telling me that I have lost 1.2kg and 4.2 inches — not bad for a week’s work!

This great news gives me a false sense of security about the week to come, and I float down to the weight room without any clue of what is ahead of me.

In the first session, it is immediately apparent to me that our strength sets have gone from difficult to murderous.

While we are still doing the same exercises as the week before (lunges, squats, dead lifts), this week they are punctuated with heavier weights, and a weighted ball that I have to hold while doing step-ups and try desperately not to fall over.

Our sets have become supersets, a high intensity version of a usual exercise set where you follow one set with a set of another exercise immediately, with no break.

Supersets are great for lots of reasons — they mean you can do your workout in less time and because your heart rate is heightened for longer, you will burn fat quicker — but I hate them.

I also achieved my first set of Burpees and I can confirm that it is the most evil, pain-inducing exercise of all time.

Week two shall hereafter be known as the week that broke me.

Over-emotional, tired and sore, I find each workout a struggle.

I start each session with an inner pep talk (“it’s only an hour, Ciara. You have two kids – you can do this”.)

Somewhere in the middle of the second session of the week I collapse onto my mat, begging for death.

There is a part of childbirth where every woman feels as though she can’t do it.

It’s called the Transition phase, and boy, am I transitioning this week.

My muscles are screaming, sweat is pouring down my face, and I don’t want to be in this stupid gym anymore.

Eddie pauses from acting as my cheerleader, and immediately shoots through a checklist of what I have been eating, how stressful my days are and am I getting enough sleep.

Suddenly, all is clear.

I am the owner of a sleep-avoiding three-year-old who has been putting me through the ringer for the last few days.

I feel as though I have jet lag, and when I allow myself to sit down to take a deep breath, I feel jittery and faint.

When I tearfully explain this to Eddie he tells me that it is completely understandable that I am a drivelling mess.

He explains that along with food, sleep is essential to successful training, and without a full night’s shut-eye, my body will be under more strain than usual while doing these exercises.

This almost sends me over the edge, so I avoid ugly crying by perfecting my kettlebell swing.

As usual, food occupies almost my every waking moment. I start the day with either porridge with cinnamon, a teaspoon of peanut butter and a drizzle of honey or scrambled eggs.

Lunch is an omelette and salad or a tuna nicoise (without the potato) and dinner is meat and vegetables.

It’s not the most fun diet in the world, and I can’t believe how much I look forward to my super exciting snacks of rice cakes, peanut butter and apple slices, but it is making me appreciate food more.

I have learned to plan my food diligently, because the hunger creeps up so fast that if I don’t shove a homemade protein ball in my mouth immediately, my entire family get shouted at.

Eddie is concerned that I’m not eating at the right times, and that’s something we’ll be looking at over the next week.

Since I began training, my daily schedule has gone into hyper-drive, and in order to facilitate my work, school pick-ups and gym sessions, I am spending far more time in the car than I would have before.

This means that there might be two hours between finishing a gym session and eating a proper meal, and Eddie doesn’t like that.

He believes that I need to refuel my body quickly after a session, because it will help my muscles to heal, so he has suggested incorporating protein powder into my post gym routine.

I prefer to eat real food than powder (it’s a personal preference), so I’m going to experiment with packed snacks that I can carry around with me in the car and see if this makes a difference.

I finish the week feeling far more positive than I began, but equally glad that it’s over.

I think the ferocity of my new routine has caught up with me, and if there’s anything this week has taught me, it’s the importance of early nights and plenty of healthy food to fuel my new self.

One Arena opens later this year.

Got questions? Tweet Ciara at @CiaraMcDonnell3

Follow Ciara’s fitness journey for the next four weeks in Weekend.

Lifestyle leggings (€25) by Pink Soda at JD Sport; 2-In-One Vest (€32) by Pink Soda Nike Flex Fury 2 Trainers (€75) @ JD Sports. www.jdsports.ie

Perry Street’s Spanish Meatball and Butter Bean Stew

350g lean pork mince

2 tsp olive oil

1 large red onion, chopped

2 peppers, sliced, any colour will do

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbsp sweet smoked paprika

1 ladle tomato passata

2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

400g tin butter beans, drained

2 tsp agave/honey

Small bunch parsley, chopped

This is an ideal store cupboard recipe, easily whipped up after work during the week.

To serve:

Crusty bread; spring onions; baby spinach

1. Season the pork, working the seasoning in with your hands, then shape into small meatballs.

2. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the meatballs and cook for 5 minutes, until golden brown all over.

3. Push to one side of the pan and add the onion and peppers. Cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until the veg has softened, then stir in the garlic and paprika.

4. Stir everything around in the pan for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes. Cover with a lid and simmer for 10 mins.

5. Uncover, stir in the beans, the honey and some seasoning, then simmer for a further 10 minutes, uncovered.

Just before serving, stir in the parsley. This is delicious with steamed rice, wholemeal pasta or sweet potato wedges! Simple!

Brian & Paul’s Top Tip

To add another layer to a dish why not chop some fresh herbs such as parsley, basil, and coriander along with some spring onions and sprinkle on top just before serving.

Or toast some cashew nuts and crush and scatter over a dish. Crunch!

At Home Workout Lunges:

The lunge is a lower-body exercise that works several muscle groups at once.

The targeted muscles include your glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps; you also hit your calf muscles in your lower legs, your abdominal muscles and your back muscles act as stabilizers.

How To Do It?

Keep your back straight, with a neutral spine, and your chest and shoulders up.

With your core engaged step forward with one leg, lowering your hips until both knees are bent at about a 90-degree angle.

Make sure your front knee is directly above your ankle, not pushed out too far, and make sure your other knee doesn’t touch the floor.

Keep the weight in your heels as you push back up to the starting position with the foot you step out with. Repeat 20 times.

Eddie’s Assessment:

I have progressed the exercises and intensity of Ciara’s workouts. The programme is designed to improve her posture and core strength, making sure she has a solid foundation.

We have made a few adjustments to her nutrition and made great progress in the gym.

She is working hard and is doing all her extra core and posture work which is vital for keeping her injury-free, in good health and improving her technique for her exercises.

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